Mandy Rose was touted to be the blonde bombshell for most of her WWE main roster stint, starting from 2017, but it was never like she was desperate to put up those vibes. Admittedly, she was trying to be all natural after coming to the mainstay scene, but she still received a warning from the management. It wasn’t until her NXT 2.0 stint that she was fully satisfied with her on-screen persona.
Despite being away from the WWE for more than two years, Mandy Rose still has opinions to make about her run in the company. She was the NXT Women’s Champion for 413 days, the third-longest-reigning champion in the genre. But her reign ended after WWE discovered her online content that appeared to be too non-PG.
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As such, Mandy Rose was released from WWE the day after losing the title to Roxanne Perez and continued to bring more of her glam avatar for her fanbase behind a paywall to earn some hefty bucks. On her YouTube channel, Mandy Sacs, she remembered being told to tone down her hotness quotient upon getting the call-up to the WWE main roster in November 2017.
“When I first got to the main roster I was like the golden goddess and the sexy one from Tough Enough and whatever, and I was told to take it down a notch, ‘You’re too sexy.’ So, now I’m going, ‘To be honest, I’m not even trying to be sexy,’” recalled Mandy Rose.
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Mandy Rose found her true self upon coming back to NXT for the 2.0 era
The former NXT women’s champion further noted that she was trying to follow the guidelines, but an edit to her looks appeared to be seductive. The order came from the “big dog” at the time, referring to then WWE-Chairman Vince McMahon, and she had to listen to him. Afterward, Mandy Rose was finally moved back to NXT 2.0 for a second run in the developmental brand, where she could finally unravel an edgier side of herself.
“I wanna be sexy but I don’t wanna put on sexy, I just wanna be me, and then I think it was my ‘NXT’ days was when I finally felt this is me,” Mandy Rose continued. “I went a little darker, I was a little edgier, but that is me. Yes, I’m a blonde bombshell sometimes and all that, but I just feel like I was able to be my cool self.” (quotes courtesy Wrestling INC)
After spending a couple of years under the NXT banner, Mandy Rose was called to Monday Night Raw as part of the Absolution faction – led by Paige and also having Sonya Deville. After Paige retired from competition, the latter duo carried on as a tag team for the better part of their main roster run until picking up a bitter feud in the summer of 2020.